Son Hye-won: "If You Know Me, It's an Easy Matter... The Judge Didn't Understand"

Court sentences 1 year and 6 months... "A case that damaged public trust in officials"

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Son Hye-won, who has been on trial for purchasing real estate under a borrowed name after preemptively learning about Mokpo's 'urban regeneration project plan,' is leaving the courthouse after the first trial sentencing hearing held at the Southern District Court on the 12th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Son Hye-won, a former Democratic Party lawmaker who was found guilty in the first trial on charges of real estate speculation in Mokpo, said, "I thought, 'I really am a person who is hard to understand in this world,'" adding, "If you know me, it's an easy matter."

On the 12th, Son appeared on YTN Radio's "Lee Dong-hyung's News Face-off" and said, "If you don't understand me, it's a very complicated issue. I was worried whether the judge would fully understand this matter and make a ruling."

Son claimed, "The world is so suspicious that I was somewhat worried that it might not be a not-guilty verdict. We submitted very precise and detailed defense materials, but our arguments were completely ignored, and only the prosecution's claims were accepted."

She continued, "I think I have a lot of enemies. They say there is no room for improvement, but wouldn't one reflect if they had done something wrong?" She added, "Anyway, I thought it would take at least three years until the Supreme Court. I believe that sounding an alarm like this in the first trial to make people tense is one way, rather than getting a not-guilty verdict in the first trial and a guilty verdict in the second."

Earlier that day, Judge Park Sung-gyu of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 4 recognized Son's guilt on charges of purchasing real estate under a false name (violation of the Real Name Real Estate Act) and using information obtained through her duties to purchase real estate (violation of the Anti-Corruption Act), sentencing her to 1 year and 6 months in prison. However, she was not detained in court to guarantee her right to defense.

The court stated, "This is a case where a member of the National Assembly and an aide, who must maintain moral integrity in their duties, used confidential information obtained during work to anticipate price increases and acquired real estate through name-trust or had a third party acquire it, thereby damaging public trust in public officials."

It added, "This is a serious corruption that must be corrected in our society, and since the defendants strongly deny the crime even in court, showing no signs of improvement, a prison sentence is inevitable," explaining the reason for the sentencing.